eagsdale



(N0 Medal.)

W. H. RAGSDALB.

FARM GATE.

No. 384,280. Patented June 12, 1888.

7i eases: 4. 5

cr. Washington, a, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT rEicE.

\VILIJAM H. RAGSDALE, OF VERSAILLES, MISSOURI.

FARM- GATE.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,280, dated June 12,1888.

Application filed February 13, 1888.

To all whom it 77mg concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. RAGSDALE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Versailles, in the county of Morgan and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Farm-Gates; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart. to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to gates which can be unlatched and opened andclosed from the in side or outside of an inclosure by persons who may beeither riding or walking; and it consists in a novel construction,combination, and arrangement of the parts for latching and unlatchingthe gate while closed or opened, and swinging it open and closing it, aswill hereinafter he described and specifically claimed.

The invention enables me to make a very durable farm-gate of thedescription above named, the same being provided with twosimultanconsly'inoving latches, both or" which serve for latching thegate when closed, and one for latching it-when fully opened, saidlatches being respectively attached to a lever of a toggiejointed deviceand to a powerful jointed lever, and operated thereby through a weightedhand-cord by a person either walking or riding and by aretracting-spring.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View ofmyirnproved gate closed and latched and ready to be swung open from theontsideof the inclosnre, the dotted lines illustrating the mainlatch-operating lever and the gate-operating lever in the positions theystand in when the gate is being swung open from theinside ofthe inclosnre. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the gate and its posts, showing aportion of the mechanism broken away, and also the latching-posts brokenaway at points and sectioned.

A in the drawings represents the gate; B, the latching and B the hingingpost.

p O and C are inner and outer stub-posts arranged laterally and on aline with the post 18, and provided with keeper-plates a a, for holdingthe gate open either when swung ontward or inward.

D ID are higher standards extending up from the posts and provided withguiding eye Serial No. 263,502. (No model.)

staples a (or grooved pulleys) for ordinary balancing or weightedhand-operated cords or chains, E E, to pass through or over.

F are kcepcr-platcs fastened to the inner side of the latching-post.

G are latches for entering the keeper-sock e'ts c of the post 13 in linewith corresponding slots of the keeper-platcs F. These latches arerespectively pivoted to vertical levers H H, which are pivoted,respectively, at d d to the top and bottom rails or bars of the gate.

I I are toggle-jointed links, pivoted by one of their respective ends tothe free ends of the lovers H H, and by their other ends to anothervertical lever, J, which is pivoted atj to an intermediate rail or barof the gate.

K is a jointed angularly-bent and horizoir tally-vibratinglcver,pivotcdatf to the top of the post 13. The part I; of this lever is slotted atits front end, as indicated at g, and a bifurcated screw-threadedpivotal standard, a, fastened to the top rail of the gate, passesthrough its slotg and receives on its end a nut, 51. By thisconstruction the lever K is loosely connected to the gate, and, while itserves for moving the gate on its hinges l. and 2, it allows the gatefreedom to make the necessary swinging movements without any unduebinding resistance. The other part, It, of this lcver is free to more onthe pivot of itsjoint g, and it is slotted at its rear end, as indicatedat y, and just beyond this slotted portion it is provided with an eyedextension, 9 to which the weighted cords or chains E E, for balancingand aiding in closing and opening the gate, are fastened, asillustrated. The part I: of the lever is connected to the vertical leverJ by a long red, M, having a screw-threaded horizontal arm, m, andascrew-threadcd vertical arm, in. The arm at forms a pivot and receiveson its end a nut, of, while the arm on enters the slot and receives onits end a nut, in. The latter arm, while forming a pivot, is free toplay in slot g from end to end thereof, and thus, while the jointedlever serves as a means by which the gate is unfastened and swung open,either outwardly or inwardly, and is closed either from the inside oroutside of the incl0sure, there is every freedom allowed the gate tomake said necessary swinging movements without undue binding of theparts upon one another, the slots 9 and g and the joint of the leverserving perfectly for accom modatiu g the parts in their movements.

L is a spiral spring connected by one of its ends to one of the links ofthe toggle-joint device aud by its other end to a front upright of thegate-frame. This spring is retracted when the latch is withdrawn, and byits thus accumulated power serves for forcing and keeping the latches intheir keeper-plates when the gate is closed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description and the ac companying drawings it will beseen that if the gate is closed and latched, as shown by full blacklines in Fig. 1, it is only necessary for a pedestrian or an equestrianto pull upon the cord E, as by this action the part k of the lever Kwill be drawn farther in the direction ofthe arrow 1, and thereby thepivot m ofthe rod M caused to traverse the slot 9* and pro duce aforward thrusting action upon the upper end of the lever J sufiicieut toforce back the lower end thereof, move the toggle-joint links I I andthe free ends of the levers H H backward, and thereby withdraw thelatches G from their keeper-plates F, and now by continuing to pull thecord E in the same directionthe part 7c of the lever K iscaused to drawthe rear end of the part 70 of said lever around in the direction of thearrow 3, while the front end of said part is of the lever K,with thegate, is caused to move in the direction of the arrow 4. If the gate isto be left open, the lower latch, G, will enter the keeper-plate a ofthe stub-post 0; but if the gate is to be closed immediately, the cord Eis pulled and the gate swung to its closed position, whereupon thespring L causes the toggle-j oi nt leverlinksII to operate upon thelevers J and H H, and thereby cause the latches G to enter the sockets cin line with the slots in the keeperplates F. During this action of thespring the rear pivot-arm m of the rod M is caused to traverse the slot9 in the portion 7a of-the lever K.

If the gate should be latched open audit is desired to unlatch and closeit, the pedestrian or equestrian by pulling upon the cord E in w thesame manner as just described can release the latch from plate a, and bycontinuing to pull said cord he can close the gate so that the spring Lmay force the latches G into the slots of the keeper-plates F.

In Fig. 1,1 have illustrated, by dotted lines,

a backward movement of the main latch-oper atiug lever J during the timethat lever K is straight, or its two parts, 70 7c, and the rod M are allin a line with the upper edge of the gate. To permit this movement, thesockets c are made deep enough in the post B to allow the latches topass the necessary distance beyond the keeper-plates.

If desirable, the upper latch, G, may be omitted; but I regard it farpreferable to provide the two'latches upon the gate.

What I claim is- 1. The combinatiou,with the swinging gate anditslatchingpost, of one or more latches, G, levers H H, toggle-jointlinks I I, and the lever J, substantially as described.

2. The combinatiomwith the swinging gate and its weightedoperating-cords E E, of the jointed lever K, pivoted to the hingiug'postand formed of parts 7.; 70, one of said parts liaving the slotsubstantially as described.

3. The combination, with the gate, its hinging andlatchingposts,slandards, and weighted operating-cords, of one or more latchesconnected to lever mechanism, as H H, I l, and J, and pivoted rod M andslotted jointed lever K, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the jointed slotted lever K, for operating thegate, and the pivoted rod M, for operating the lever J of the latchmechanism, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In tcstimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

WVM. H. RAGSD ALE.

\Vituesses:

B. R. RICHARDSON, J on TAYLOR.

